United News of Bangladesh

A passenger train derailed Tuesday in eastern India, killing at least two passengers and injuring 20 others, a railroad official said. Dozens of rescuers pulled the injured passengers from the derailed coaches and moved them to hospitals and government health centers for treatment, railway spokesperson Om Prakash Charan said. The cause of the accident is being investigated, he said. The train was on its way to Mumbai when it derailed near the town of Barabamboo in Jharkhand state, causing 18 coaches to derail, Charan said. Earlier this month a passenger train derailed in northern India, killing at least two passengers. Last year, a train crash in eastern India killed over 280 people in one of the country’s deadliest accidents in decades. More than 12 million people ride 14,000 trains across India daily, traveling on 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) of track. Despite government efforts to improve rail safety, several hundred accidents happen annually; most blamed on human error or outdated signaling equipment.

More than 5,000 people isolated by flooding in northwest North Korea were rescued in airlifts and other evacuation work supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, state media reported Monday. Heavy rainfall on Saturday had caused a river on the North Korean-Chinese border to exceed a dangerous level and created “a grave crisis," the official Korean Central News Agency said. About 10 military helicopters and navy and government boats were mobilized for the evacuation efforts in Sinuiju city and Uiju town where flooding had isolated residents. KCNA did not mention any deaths or how much damage the flooding caused. It said each of the about 10 helicopters made several fights to move the residents despite bad weather, ultimately rescuing 4,200 of the affected people by airlift. It said Kim guided the evacuation works Sunday, ordered food and other necessities to be provided to affected people, and set tasks for recovery and relief works. KCNA cited Kim as calling the rescue works “miraculous” as more than 5,000 people were saved through the efforts. Summer floods in North Korea often cause serious damage to farmlands due to poor drainage, deforestation and dilapidated infrastructure. Typhoons and torrential rains in 2020 were among the difficulties Kim previously said had created “multiple crises” at home, along with draconian pandemic-related restrictions and U.N. sanctions over his nuclear weapons program. During his weekend visit to the flooded region, Kim also scolded officials for lowering their guard though he had ordered efforts to prevent flood damage more than once, KCNA said. “They, seized with defeatism at combat with nature, do not confidently turn out in the disaster prevention work, only expecting chance from the sky,” Kim said, according to KCNA. Kim stressed that the irresponsible attitude of those tasked with ensuring people's safety should not be overlooked. He said the North’s emergency response agency and the Ministry of Public Security didn’t even know the exact populations of the flood-hit areas so the number of people rescued was larger than expected. Kim’s criticism could be seen as an effort to shift blame while establishing his own image as a leader caring about his people while North Korea struggles with economic difficulties and international isolation, observers say.

Fifteen people were killed after a mudslide hit a homestay house in a tourist area in southeastern China on Sunday as heavy rains from what remained of a tropical storm drenched the region, state media said. Elsewhere in China, a delivery person on a scooter was killed Saturday after being hit by a falling tree in Shanghai, apparently because of storm-related winds, according to The Paper, a digital news outlet. The deaths were the first in China that appear linked to Typhoon Gaemi, which weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall on Thursday. Before reaching China, the typhoon intensified monsoon rains in the Philippines, leaving at least 34 dead, and swept across the island of Taiwan, where the death toll has risen to 10, authorities said late Saturday. The mudslide struck the homestay house after 8 a.m. and trapped 21 people in Yuelin, a village under the jurisdiction of Hengyang city in Hunan province, state broadcaster CCTV said in a series of online reports. About 30 centimeters (12 inches) of rain was recorded in the area over a 24-hour period. Six injured people were rescued and taken to a hospital for treatment, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The media reports didn't say whether the injuries were serious. The one-story house offered food and accommodation near Hengshan, a mountain in a scenic area where tourists come on weekends to escape the summer heat, a report by The Paper said. The scenic areas had been closed starting Sunday because of the rains until further notice, even before the mudslide. The CCTV reports said the mudslide was triggered by water rushing down the mountains from the rains. They didn’t mention Gaemi but the China Meteorological Administration said that heavy rain tied to the tropical storm hit southeastern parts of Hunan province on Saturday. In Shanghai, a photo posted by The Paper showed a delivery scooter on its side mostly covered by leafy branches near the still-standing barren trunk of a tree. It said that winds from the storm were the suspected cause, and that the investigation was continuing. The wide arc of the tropical storm also was bringing heavy rain about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) away to China's northeast. The Linjiang city government in Jilin province posted a notice on social media asking residents living below the third floor to move to higher places on Sunday as the Yalu River, which forms the border with North Korea, rose above the warning level. In neighboring Liaoning province, hundreds of chemical and mining companies suspended operations from Saturday as a precautionary measure and more than 30,000 people had been evacuated, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Nearly 40 trains were suspended through Thursday for safety reasons after steady rain in recent days created hazards and damaged tracks. Two more people were reported dead in Taiwan, raising the death toll to 10, the island's Central News Agency said, quoting the emergency operation center. Two others were missing, and 895 people were injured. The latest victims were a man found in a drainage ditch and another man who died in a car accident. More than 800 people remained in shelters in Taiwan as of Saturday night, and more than 5,000 households were without power. The typhoon caused nearly 1.8 billion New Taiwan dollars ($54.9 million) in damage to crops including bananas, guavas and pears; chicken and other livestock farming and oyster and other fisheries, the Central News Agency said, citing figures from the Ministry of Agriculture. A cargo ship sunk off Taiwan's shore during the typhoon, killing the captain, while eight other ships ran aground.

Japanese and U.S. defense chiefs and top diplomats held talks in Tokyo on Sunday on further bolstering their military cooperation, including by upgrading the command and control of U.S. forces and strengthening American-licensed missile production in Japan, amid a rising threat from China. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin joined their Japanese counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa and Minoru Kihara, at the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee, known as “2+2” security talks, to reaffirm their alliance following President Joe Biden 's withdrawal from the November presidential race. “We are at a turning point in history as the rules-based, free and open international order is shaken to the core," Kamikawa said. "Now is a critical phase when our decision today determines our future.” Austin, in his opening remarks, said China is “engaging in coercive behavior, trying to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas, around Taiwan and throughout the region," adding that North Korea's nuclear program and its deepening cooperation with Russia “threaten regional and global security.” Austin said the ministers planned to discuss “historic efforts to modernize" U.S. and Japanese command and control structures, including for U.S. forces in Japan. That would involve upgrading the U.S. command and control system alongside Japan’s ongoing efforts to have a unified command in March. “It will be one of he most significant developments in the history of our alliance," Austin said. Japan is home to more than 50,000 U.S. troops, but a commander for the U.S. Forces Japan headquartered in Yokota in the western suburbs of Tokyo, tasked with managing their bases, has no commanding authority. Instead that comes from the Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii. The plan to upgrade USFJ’s command and control capability is designed to help smooth joint exercises and operations, officials say. The ministers were to also discuss enhancing coordination in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and cybersecurity, areas where Japan needs further improvement to help jointly tackle future threats. For the first time, the ministers will hold separate talks to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to “extended deterrence,” which includes atomic weapons — a shift from Japan’s earlier reluctance to openly discuss the sensitive issue in the world’s only country to have suffered nuclear attacks — amid growing nuclear threats from Russia and China. Japan has been accelerating its military buildup and has increased joint operations with the U.S., as well as with South Korea, while trying to strengthen its largely domestic defense industry. Japan has significantly eased its arms export restrictions and in December accommodated a U.S. request for shipment of surface-to-air PAC-3 missile interceptors produced in Japan under an American license to replenish U.S. inventories, which have decreased due to its support for Ukraine. The ministers were expected to discuss increased Japanese production of PAC-3 interceptors for export to the United States, as well as co-production of Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles. Japan and the U.S. have been accelerating arms industry cooperation following an April agreement between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Biden. The two sides have set up working groups for missile co-production and for the maintenance and repair of U.S. Navy ships and Air Force aircraft in the region. While Japan's role is largely designed to help U.S. weapons supply and keep its deterrence credible in the Indo-Pacific amid continuing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, Japanese officials say it will help strengthen the Japanese defense industry. Ahead of the 2+2 talks, Kihara met with Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik for their first trilateral defense talks hosted by Tokyo and signed a memorandum based on their June agreement in Singapore that institutionalizes their regular high-level talks, joint exercises and other exchanges. Defense officials said the memorandum serves as the basis for future defense cooperation among the three countries despite possible changes in leadership, while showcasing their unity. “The signing of this memorandum makes our trilateral cooperation unwavering even under changing global environments,” Kihara told reporters. Kihara also met Shin, who is the first South Korean defense chief to visit Japan in 15 years, and they agreed to take steps to deepen their bilateral defense ties.

Eleven people were killed after a mudslide hit a house in southeastern China on Sunday as heavy rains from what remained of a tropical storm drenched the region, state media said. Elsewhere in China, a delivery person on a scooter was killed Saturday after being hit by a falling tree in Shanghai, apparently because of storm-related winds, according to The Paper, a digital news outlet. The deaths were the first in China that appear linked to Typhoon Gaemi, which weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall on Thursday. Before reaching China, the typhoon intensified monsoon rains in the Philippines, leaving at least 34 dead, and swept across the island of Taiwan, where the death toll has risen to 10, authorities said late Saturday. The mudslide struck the house about 8 a.m. in Yuelin village, which falls under the jurisdiction of Hengyang city in Hunan province, state broadcaster CCTV said in a series of online reports. An earlier report said that 18 people were trapped by the mudslide, and that six injured people had been rescued. It wasn't clear in the latest report if one other person remained missing. The reports didn't say who was staying in the house, which was was rented for temporary stays. There was no information on whether the injuries were serious. Typhoon Gaemi hits China's coast after leaving 25 dead in Taiwan and the Philippines The reports said the mudslide was triggered by water rushing down the mountains from heavy rains. They didn’t mention Gaemi but the China Meteorological Administration said that rain tied to the tropical storm hit southeastern parts of Hunan province on Saturday. In Shanghai, a photo posted by The Paper showed a delivery scooter on its side mostly covered by leafy branches near the still-standing barren trunk of a tree. It said that winds from the storm were the suspected cause, and that the investigation was continuing. The wide arc of the tropical storm also was bringing heavy rain about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) away to Liaoning province in China's northeast. Hundreds of chemical and mining companies suspended operations from Saturday as a precautionary measure and more than 30,000 people had been evacuated, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Nearly 40 trains were suspended through Thursday for safety reasons after steady rain in recent days created hazards and damaged tracks. Two more people were reported dead in Taiwan, raising the death toll to 10, the island's Central News Agency said, quoting the emergency operation center. Two others were missing, and 895 people were injured. The latest victims were a man found in a drainage ditch and another man who died in a car accident. Rescuers in Nepal search for 2 buses with more than 50 people on board that was swept into a river More than 800 people remained in shelters in Taiwan as of Saturday night, and more than 5,000 households were without power. The typhoon caused nearly 1.7 billion New Taiwan dollars ($51.8 million) in damage to crops including bananas, guavas and pears; chicken and other livestock farming and oyster and other fisheries, the Central News Agency said, citing figures from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Sri Lanka will hold a presidential election on Sept. 21 that will likely be a test of confidence in President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s efforts to resolve the country’s worst economic crisis. The date was announced by the independent elections commission Friday, which said nominations will be accepted on Aug. 15. Wickremesinghe is expected to run while his main rivals will be opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Anura Dissanayake, who is the leader of a leftist political party that has gained popularity after the economic debacle. It will be the first election in the South Asian island nation after it declared bankruptcy in 2022 and suspended repayments on some $83 billion in domestic and foreign loans. That followed a severe foreign exchange crisis that led to a severe shortage of essentials such as food, medicine, fuel and cooking gas, and extended power outages. The election is largely seen as a crucial vote for the island nation’s efforts to conclude a critical debt restructuring program and as well as completing the financial reforms agreed under a bailout program by the International Monetary Fund. The country’s economic upheaval led to a political crisis that forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign in 2022. Parliament then elected the then-Prime Minister Wickremesinghe as president. Under Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka has been negotiating with the international creditors to restructure the staggering debts and to put the economy back on the track. The IMF has also approved a four-year bailout program last March to help Sri Lanka. Last month, Wickremesinghe announced that his government has struck a debt restructuring deal with countries including India, France, Japan and China — marking a key step in the country’s economic recovery after defaulting on debt repayment in 2022. The economic situation has improved under Wickremesinghe and severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine have largely abated. But public dissatisfaction has grown over the government’s effort to increase revenue by raising electricity bills and imposing heavy new income taxes on professionals and businesses, as part of the government’s efforts to meet the IMF conditions. Sri Lanka’s crisis was largely the result of staggering economic mismanagement combined with fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, which along with 2019 terrorism attacks devastated its important tourism industry. The coronavirus crisis also disrupted the flow of remittances from Sri Lankans working abroad. Additionally, the then-government slashed taxes in 2019, depleting the treasury just as the virus hit. Foreign exchange reserves plummeted, leaving Sri Lanka unable to pay for imports or defend its beleaguered currency, the rupee. Under the agreements with its creditors, Sri Lanka will be able to defer all bilateral loan instalment payments until 2028. Furthermore, Sri Lanka will be able to repay all the loans on concessional terms, with an extended period until 2043. The agreements would cover $10 billion of debt. By 2022, Sri Lanka had to repay about $6 billion in foreign debt every year, amounting to about 9.2% of gross domestic product. The agreement would enable Sri Lanka to maintain debt payments at less than 4.5% of GDP between 2027 and 2032.

A strong typhoon made landfall on China's southeastern coast on Thursday evening after sweeping across the nearby island of Taiwan, where it caused landslides and flooding in low-lying areas and left three dead. Typhoon Gaemi had swept up the western Pacific, intensifying seasonal rains earlier in the week in the Philippines, where the death toll climbed to 22. Offices and schools in Taiwan were closed for a second day on Thursday and people were urged to stay home and away from the coastline. Two people were killed on Wednesday before the storm made landfall around midnight, and a 78-year-old man died after his home was hit by a mudslide on Thursday afternoon, Taiwan's Central News Agency said. Another 380 people were reported injured. A third death on Wednesday — a driver pinned under an overturned excavator — was initially attributed to the typhoon but later was determined not to be linked, the news agency said. The island is regularly hit by typhoons and has boosted its warning systems, but its topography, high population density and high-tech economy make it difficult to avoid losses when such storms hit. The capital, Taipei, was unusually quiet, with light rain and occasionally gusting winds. The storm prompted the cancellation of air force drills this week off Taiwan’s east coast. In China's coastal Fujian province, flights, trains and ferry services were canceled, and more than 240,000 residents were evacuated as the typhoon approached, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The storm is expected to weaken but still bring heavy rains to inland areas over the next three days, including the capital, Beijing. In the Philippines, the death toll rose due to drownings and landslides. At least three people were missing, according to police. Gaemi, called Carina in the Philippines, did not make landfall in that archipelago but enhanced its seasonal monsoon rains. The Philippine coast guard reported that an oil tanker, MT Terra Nova, loaded with about 1.4 million liters (370,000 gallons) of industrial fuel oil sank off Limay town in Bataan province early Thursday and rescuers saved 15 of 16 crew members. It was not immediately clear if the sinking was related to the bad weather and rough seas but Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista said coast guard personnel could not immediately reach the area to contain a possible oil spill because of the rough sea conditions. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered authorities to speed up efforts to deliver food and other aid to isolated rural villages. “People there may not have eaten for days,” Marcos said in a televised emergency meeting. In the densely populated region around the Philippine capital, government work and school classes were suspended after rains flooded many areas.

India and the United Kingdom launched a new technology security initiative expected to boost economic growth and deepen collaboration, the two countries announced during the first official visit to India by the new British foreign secretary. According to the agreement, which was announced late Wednesday, the two countries will work together on crucial technologies, from critical minerals and AI to semiconductors and telecoms. It will also strengthen cooperation on issues like climate, trade, technology and education, according to a statement released by British Foreign Secretary David Lammy's office. “This will mean real action together on the challenges of the future from AI to critical minerals. Together we can unlock mutual growth, boost innovation, jobs and investment," Lammy said. In talks with his counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the two also agreed to boost defense and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, and discussed global issues including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to a statement from the Indian Foreign Ministry. Lammy said his trip to India reflects one of the new government’s top foreign policy priorities: a reset with Europe, both on climate and with the Global South. Britain's new Labour Party government, which swept the polls in the July 4 election, says it wants to “reset and relaunch” U.K.-India relations, particularly by restarting formal talks that began in 2022 on a free trade agreement hailed by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a key goal after Britain’s departure from the European Union in 2020. Lammy also met with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said he welcomed the new technology security initiative. Modi also said India was looking forward to settling on a free trade agreement in a post on social media platform X. The trade deal was aimed at doubling the two countries’ trade from its 2022 level of $50 billion by 2030. Johnson famously promised to have a deal done by Diwali in October of that year. The two countries held 13 rounds of negotiations without a breakthrough before talks were suspended while both nations held 2024 general elections.

A domestic plane slipped off the runway and crashed Wednesday while trying to take off from the airport serving Nepal's capital, killing the 18 passengers and injuring the pilot. Police official Basanta Rajauri said authorities have pulled out all 18 bodies. The only survivor was the pilot, who was taken to Kathmandu Medical College Hospital for treatment, said a doctor at the hospital who was not authorized to speak to media. The pilot has injuries to the eyes but is not in any danger, the doctor said. The Saurya Airlines plane was heading from Kathmandu to the resort town of Pokhara. It was not clear how it slipped. Local media images showed smoke rising and plane wreckage scattered all over a ditch. A fire has been brought under control. Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport in Nepal for international and domestic flights, has been closed as emergency crew worked. It is monsoon rainy season in Kathmandu but was not raining at the time of the crash. Visibility was low across the capital, however. Saurya Airlines operates the Bombardier CRJ 200 on domestic routes. In 2019, a Bangladeshi airliner crashed at Tribhuvan airport, killing 51 people while 20 on board survived. An investigation confirmed the plane was misaligned with the runway and its pilot was disoriented and tried to land in “sheer desperation” when the plane crashed. In 2015, a Turkish Airlines jet landing in dense fog skidded off a slippery runway at the airport. The plane was carrying 238 people but there were no serious injuries.  

A domestic plane with 19 people on board slipped off the runway and crashed Wednesday while trying to take off from the airport serving Nepal's capital. The pilot survived and was taken to Kathmandu Medical College Hospital for treatment, said a doctor at the hospital who was not authorized to speak to media. The pilot has injuries to the eyes but is not in any danger, the doctor said. The Saurya Airlines plane was heading from Kathmandu to the resort town of Pokhara. It was not clear how it slipped. Local media images showed smoke rising and plane wreckage scattered all over a ditch. A fire has been brought under control. Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport in Nepal for international and domestic flights, has been closed as emergency crew worked. It is monsoon rainy season in Kathmandu but was not raining at the time of the crash. Visibility was low across the capital, however. Saurya Airlines operates the Bombardier CRJ 200 on domestic routes. In 2019, a Bangladeshi airliner crashed at Tribhuvan airport, killing 51 people while 20 on board survived. An investigation confirmed the plane was misaligned with the runway and its pilot was disoriented and tried to land in “sheer desperation” when the plane crashed. In 2015, a Turkish Airlines jet landing in dense fog skidded off a slippery runway at the airport. The plane was carrying 238 people but there were no serious injuries.